


why can't i go home without somebody

by kienava



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Biting, Chapter 2 is smut, College, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Movie Night, Pining, Rough Sex, Sexual Content, Wingwoman Scorpia, specifically unwitting wingwoman scorpia, they're just trying to top each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:08:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22488448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kienava/pseuds/kienava
Summary: Catra has been hooking up with Adora for months--and everything was fine until Catra caught feelings.When Scorpia invites Adora over for a movie night, Catra's crush becomes impossible to ignore.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 98
Kudos: 1188





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @everhaunting for giving me the idea for a college movie night AU! I'm (not) sorry it got so horny.

Catra wasn’t surprised when her phone lit up with a new message two minutes before the end of her Thursday evening seminar.

**Adora :P**

_Hey!_

Yeah. Catra knew where this was going.

In about thirty seconds she’d get a second text asking if she was free tonight, and she’d respond like she always did: _yours or mine?_

This whole thing had started last semester. Catra’s major (psychology, according to her application, though she wasn’t sure it would stick) cornered her into taking a mandatory intro class at 8 in the morning. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Three days of waking up at the hellishly early hour of 7 a.m., racing to the shuttle, and trying not to fall asleep while some old guy droned on about Freud. All Catra took away from that course was that Freud was probably in love with his mom, so he decided that everyone else must be, too, and for some reason people thought he was a genius for it.

The other downside of the class: the girl who decided to sit next to Catra on the first day was an aggressive morning person who insisted on introducing herself with a vehement handshake. Thanks to the professor’s ruling that the seat you chose on the first day was the seat you kept for the whole term, Catra was stuck sitting next to Adora for three and a half more months.

The first two weeks were hell. Adora would come in every morning and ask Catra half a dozen rapid-fire questions. How was her night? How was her morning? What was she up to after class? Was she excited for lunch that day?

Eventually, Catra snapped.

“No, Adora. Nobody is ever excited for bland chicken and vegetables that have been boiled so long they taste like napkins.”

Adora laughed so hard she almost fell out of her seat.

The following Monday, Adora brought a cup of coffee with her. She set the cup down in front of Catra like it was a normal, regular thing to do. When Catra raised an eyebrow, Adora explained that she didn’t drink coffee, just hot chocolate. As Catra sipped the scalding hot drink, she filed that information away (she wasn’t sure why, but it felt important). Plus, she shuddered to think what this girl might be like on caffeine.

After that, something changed. Catra stopped hitting the snooze button on Mondays, and she stopped having to race after the shuttle.

Once, she even caught the early bus up to campus, which gave her enough time to grab a breakfast sandwich from the snack bar in the science building. She hadn’t even realized who was in front of her in line until Adora turned around with a huge grin on her face. Catra walked out of their class that day with a new number in her phone. It was probably the best Monday she’d had since coming to college, but she’d never admit that--especially to Adora.

The first time they hung out was totally normal: dinner at the dining hall and a brief, casual, three-hour walk around campus. The second time...involved far less clothing.

Friday nights with Adora became a habit so easily that it scared Catra. Her randomly assigned roommate, Scorpia, figured out what was going on just as fast. She was much smarter than Catra originally gave her credit for, and she insisted on details. Catra told her as little as possible, making sure to never let Adora’s name slip anywhere near the subject. It was a big enough campus that they’d probably never crossed paths, but if Scorpia knew, Catra had a feeling she’d go to great lengths to befriend Catra’s “gal pal,” a phrase Scorpia had used several times and Catra had vetoed just as many.

Catra's first semester of college flew by in a whirlwind of academic stress, terrible dining hall food, and telling Adora as little as possible about herself outside of what she liked in bed. Aside from the whole waking up early part, Fridays were good days.

Second semester, Adora went and joined the rugby team (like every other gay jock girl who wanted to make sure absolutely no one mistook them for straight), which meant she had Saturday morning practices. Fridays were off the table.

Luckily, Catra had gone to great lengths to never schedule a morning class ever again, and Adora, with her advanced labs and honors seminars, somehow managed to have Fridays off from classes completely. So now, every Thursday around 8 pm, Catra’s phone would ping. They’d go to one of their dorms and pretend to care about whatever TV show they’d put no effort into choosing, then one of them would trek back to their own room a few hours later. It was a routine. Second semester brought almost no changes to their arrangement.

Almost.

It was a perfect friends-with-benefits situation.

And then Catra caught feelings.

She should have known that hanging out with someone as annoyingly smart and obnoxiously pretty as Adora would have consequences.

Everything was fine first semester. No problems. No red flags. They FaceTimed once over winter break, but that was a totally normal thing for friends to do, right? Honestly, she hadn’t expected it to turn so quickly.

The first day back, Catra walked past Adora at lunch, saw her laugh and tuck a piece of hair back--and it hit her all at once.

If she started acting differently, Adora would know something was up. Adora wasn’t the most perceptive person--sometimes she was so adorably oblivious that Catra just _had_ to kiss some common sense into her--but she would definitely notice if Catra cut her off or tried to distance herself too much. Catra’s brain was screaming at her that she shouldn’t risk anything by spending any more time with this girl, but reason would lose every time against that stupid, goofy, utterly endearing grin.

So Catra kept it casual.

She made rules:

1\. She could make plans with Adora once a week (random run-ins couldn’t really be helped).

2\. No deep conversations about their lives.

3\. Absolutely no sleepovers.

Unfortunately, she forgot to give Adora the memo, and Catra sent almost all of those rules up in smoke by the end of January.

Adora had taken to inviting Catra to study with her in the library--or, more dangerously, in her room. Catra didn’t necessarily care about grades as much as Adora did, but she wasn’t going to turn down a chance to have one of the smartest people in her major walk her through difficult concepts. Coincidentally, Catra was taking another intro-level lecture that Adora had taken the previous term. She took really good notes, and she wasn’t stingy with them--did she really have to be so tooth-rottingly nice all the time?

With Catra’s first wall down, they started getting meals together once or twice a week. It was fine until Catra’s foster mother called during dinner once and Adora asked why someone would save their mother as “Shadow Weaver” in their contacts. That night ended with Catra crying in Adora’s bed, and rule three almost vanished right on the heels of rule two. Adora offered to let her stay the night, but Catra needed something to hold onto.

Some dark part of Catra hoped that telling Adora about her messed up past would drive her off, but, perhaps even more frighteningly, Adora didn’t treat her differently at all. That made Catra a thousand times more nervous.

They’d never exactly defined what was going on between them, but Adora never did more than smile at her in public, and Catra certainly wasn’t going to be the one to instigate that conversation. It was scary enough to deal with what was going on in her own head. She didn’t need two people’s emotions bouncing around in there, especially if they weren’t on the same wavelength. Whenever they hung out, about 90% of Catra’s brainpower went towards keeping her feelings under wraps. She wouldn’t mess this up--whatever it was--by getting emotional about it.

Unfortunately, Catra had never been very good at hiding her feelings for long.

Casual. What a stupid word.

Catra’s phone buzzed in her hand again.

**Adora :P**

_Are you on your way?_

Well. Adora wasn’t usually so forward.

As Catra turned the corner to the shuttle stop, she saw the bus already parked around the pickup circle. It was due to leave right at 8:10, so she half-jogged the rest of the way. She was never one for intentional cardio, but she didn’t want to keep Adora waiting. It was also a perfect excuse to let Adora sweat it out for a minute or two before replying.

Seconds after Catra sat down, the driver closed the doors. Lucky, for once.

It was a short ride back to her dorm, but she was happy to use it to tease Adora a little.

**Catra**

_careful, you sound like you miss me_

**Adora :P**

_:P_

(Adora had earned her contact name for a very good reason.)

**Catra**

_just need to pick something up_

**Adora :P**

_No problem! I got here kind of early haha :)_

_I’m just hanging out in the lounge!_

**Catra**

_you know you don’t have to narrate everything you’re doing, right?_

She paused. She could make the next fifteen minutes really, really hard on Adora if she wanted to...

**Catra**

_maybe under other circumstances_

_involving less clothes_

**Adora :P**

_Huh?_

**Catra**

_don’t tell me you don’t know what sexting is_

**Adora :P**

_OH! No I know :P_

**Catra**

_you’ve got to stop using that face_

**Adora :P**

_Okay :P :P :P_

_Are you almost here?_

As Catra hopped off of the shuttle and pulled out her keys a few minutes later, she chuckled to herself. Was Adora really this desperate to see her?

When she opened the door--

“Catra!”

Catra looked up.

“Adora? You’re in my dorm.”

Ugh. That stupid smile.

Catra narrowed her eyes. “Did I miss the part where we decided to hang out here tonight?”

“Well, you guys have a projector, so.” Adora shrugged.

Baffled, Catra wracked her brain to figure out how a projector could possibly be necessary for sex.

Down the hall, Catra saw the door to her room swing open. Scorpia walked out with a bowl and an unopened bag of microwave popcorn. She waved enthusiastically and started to approach them.

Catra grumbled to herself. “Scorpia’s here.”

“Awesome!” Adora beamed. What the hell was wrong with her today?

“Just act normal when she comes over, okay? I’ll grab my birth control and we can just go to your place.”

Adora’s face hardened into that idiotic, impossibly cute face she made whenever she was focusing too hard on something. Sometimes it truly looked like her brain was at risk of melting out of her ears. A moment later, her eyes widened. “Wait, did you think I came over to--”

“Hey, roomie!” Scorpia clapped Catra on the back so hard Catra nearly fell onto Adora.

“Scorpia, what a lovely surprise,” Catra muttered sardonically.

“Man, can I just say? I am so excited. I’ve been wanting to watch this for months.”

“What?!” Catra whirled to face her roommate.

Scorpia didn’t even register Catra’s response. “I mean, I wanted to see when it first came out, but so much was going on with graduation, and getting ready to move in, and then I didn’t really have any friends to hang out with here, but now we can all watch it together! Honestly, so much better. So glad I waited.”

Shocked, Catra looked between Adora and Scorpia until Adora cleared her throat.

“She’s talking about _Someone Great._ The movie. On Netflix.” Adora said quietly. “Which she invited me to watch with you guys.”

Scorpia just blinked. “Whadja think I was talking about, Wildcat?”

“A...different movie,” Catra mumbled. She glanced at the popcorn bowl and suddenly felt very, very warm. Her face was probably the same color as Adora’s dumb red jacket (which Catra had not-so-accidentally stolen for a few days the previous week). “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. I’m busy tonight.” She threw a glance at Adora, hoping she’d pick up on it.

Instead, Adora just scratched the back of her neck, caught up in her own embarrassment.

Catra held back an agitated sigh. “Scorpia, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure!” She held up the bag of popcorn. “I was just about to _pop_ this fella in the microwave. Get it? Pop? Because it’s popcorn.”

“Yes, I get it. Let’s go.” When Scorpia turned her back and started towards the communal kitchen, Catra poked a finger into a Adora’s chest. She was planning on saying something snarky, but she froze when she realized that their faces were much closer to each other than they usually were in public. Catra opened and closed her mouth without saying a word, hoping that Adora wasn’t too aware of how Catra’s gaze flickered between her eyes and her mouth.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Catra managed.

She followed Scorpia to the kitchen. Over her shoulder she saw Adora sit back on one of the lounge couch’s armrests, definitely more than a little dazed.

In the kitchen, Scorpia was busy pressing far too many buttons. Eventually, the microwave let out a loud, sustained _BEEEEEEEP_.

“Okay, that’s not quite right,” Scorpia said to herself. “Let’s try this again...”

Catra walked over, elbowed Scorpia out of the way, and pressed the popcorn button.

“Who told you?” Catra said, posturing in front of the humming microwave with her arms crossed.

Scorpia tapped her chin. “About the movie? Netflix just recommended it to me, and as soon as I saw Gina Rodriguez, I was hooked. Look, I’m not ashamed of it--I watch a ton of romantic comedies. Their algorithm just gets me.”

Catra growled. “Not the movie, dumbass. About me and Adora.”

“What about you and Adora now?”

“Nothing,” Catra said quickly.

In that moment, as Scorpia’s confusion slowly morphed into sheer delight, Catra realized that she’d made a terrible mistake.

The microwave dinged.

“You and Adora?” Scorpia yelled.

“Shh,” Catra hissed.

“You and Adora?” Scorpia repeated in barely a stage whisper. She grabbed Catra by the shoulders. “Are you guys dating? Girlfriends? Engaged? Tell me everything.”

“No, God, we’re not engaged. We...it’s not like that. At all,” Catra said, shrugging Scorpia off. She turned around to grab the popcorn from the microwave, hoping to disguise the absolute mortification on her face. “We’re just hanging out.”

Scorpia made a strange sound that Catra could only describe as an ecstatic squeak.

Catra tore the popcorn bag open, steam and the smell of hot butter wafting up as she poured it into the bowl.

Scorpia was staring at her with the dumbest expression on her face, mouth covered and eyes the size of popcorn bowls.

“What?” Catra put as much bite behind the question as possible.

“I know that look, Wildcat,” Scorpia whispered from behind her hand.

“What look? There’s no look.”

“Oh, this is happening,” Scorpia said, too loud once again. She nodded to herself with the broadest grin on her face. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I can believe it. Adora’s fantastic!”

Catra picked out a few burned pieces and tossed them at the overflowing trash can. Most of them bounced off and landed on the floor, but she managed to land one inside of a paper hot dog tray. “How do you even know each other, anyway?”

“Rugby. I invited her because I thought you guys might like each other. Guess I was right, huh?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Catra pushed past it. “And you didn’t tell me about this little movie night plan because...?”

“I did! I texted you.” Scorpia pulled out her phone. “Aaaaand that’s an error message. Nope, that message did not send. You usually don’t respond to my texts, so I wasn’t really waiting on an answer.”

Catra winced at that and handed Scorpia the popcorn bowl. “Alright, well, you guys have fun.”

Scorpia took a handful of popcorn and stuffed her face. Mouth full, she continued speaking, undeterred. “What? You can’t just skip out! I don’t mind third wheeling, seriously.”

“Technically, I wasn’t invited,” Catra pointed out.

Without warning, Scorpia threw an arm around Catra’s shoulders and started escorting her out of the kitchen. “I’m inviting you now. Consider it super fun roommate bonding time.”

“No.”

“How about mandatory roommate bonding time?”

As soon as they exited the kitchen, Adora perked up across the lounge like a puppy, and Catra already knew she’d lost. Adora would want her to stay, right? Maybe? What would that even mean?

“Fine, I’ll watch the stupid movie,” Catra mumbled.

“Yes! Super Pal Duo is havin’ a movie night!” Scorpia exclaimed. When she saw Adora, she added, “And Adora’s here too!”

God, Adora’s stupid smiling face was going to be the end of Catra.

***

Scorpia cried three times during the movie, completely enraptured from the first frame to the last. Why, Catra wasn’t entirely certain. Comedies and dramas weren’t really her thing, and she completely zoned out after about ten minutes. Then Adora had the audacity to put her head on Catra’s shoulder, and Catra almost forgot there was a movie playing altogether. She couldn’t bring herself to make Adora move, but her arm was definitely asleep from the shoulder down.

“That was...a masterpiece,” Scorpia said through her tears. “Supportive female friendships? Incredible. Gina Rodriguez learning she doesn’t need a man to be happy? Gah, I just love that for her. Gina Rodriguez in general? Amazing. Unparalleled. What’d you guys think?”

When Scorpia turned to them, Catra jumped in her seat. Adora flinched away and sat up, leaving Catra with space to finally shake out her arm.

“Boring,” Catra said. “Next time I’m picking the movie.”

“What? You didn’t like it?” Scorpia looked genuinely crestfallen.

Catra shrugged. “Not my thing.”

“Adora, what’d you think? Please tell me you have better taste than my roommate,” Scorpia said.

“Um,” Adora started, “I kind of fell asleep. Just a little.”

“Noooo!” Scorpia wailed. “The whole point of movie night is to watch the movie.”

“I was really comfy,” Adora argued, staring down at the couch cushion.

Catra couldn’t resist an opportunity to tease her. “You fell asleep? So did my arm, asshole.” She exaggerated her next shoulder roll and cracked her neck.

“I’m not apologizing. You’re a terrible pillow.” Adora crossed her arms. She was so competitive--that information came to light early on, and Catra definitely used it to her advantage when she wanted to get Adora riled up.

“Weren’t you just saying how comfortable you were?” Catra smirked.

“Yeah, in spite of how squirmy you are,” Adora countered.

Catra paused. They were definitely toeing a line here. And Scorpia was very much still in the room.

Suddenly, though, Scorpia was standing up and walking towards the door.

“Alrighty,” Scorpia said, stretching her arms overhead, “I’m gonna go check out Pub Night. You two have fun. I’m crashing at Entrapta’s apartment with the AV crew.” She looked pointedly at Catra but covered it quickly by continuing, “You know she has a penthouse? It’s huge. Guess you can afford that when a massive corporation sponsors your education. You two have fun. Talking. Hangin’ out. See you later, Wildcat!”

With that, Scorpia grabbed a jacket and left.

Which meant Catra was alone with Adora.

It shouldn’t have felt as stressful and awkward as it did. They’d been alone together plenty of times, but this felt...different. Catra felt a sudden urge to follow Scorpia out the door.

“Do you wanna watch another movie?” Adora blurted out, finally breaking the silence.

“Yeah, we can do that,” Catra said, hoping her voice sounded a little less strained than she felt.

Adora smiled again, and it took everything in Catra not to jump on her right then and kiss her until they both forgot movies had ever even been invented.

As far as Catra was concerned, there was one sure bet to absolutely kill the mood, and she really needed to silence her emotions as efficiently as possible. “How do you feel about horror?” Catra said, getting up and typing her password into the computer hooked up to the TV.

“Sure.” Adora curled into the couch, and Catra had to tear her eyes away and focus very hard on the screen. She searched “horror” on Netflix and clicked on the first thumbnail she saw.

She wasn’t sure how two women with cellos was going to turn into something scary, but she was intrigued.

Adora sat up again when Catra returned to the couch. “I’ve heard this is really good,” Adora said. “You’re not gonna freak out, are you?”

“What? Me?” Catra scoffed. “I watch tons of horror movies. If anyone’s gonna scream in the next two hours, it’s you.”

As soon as Catra realized what she’d said, she felt her cheeks turn warm.

Miraculously, Adora didn’t seem to pick up on it. So wonderfully oblivious--a blessing and a curse, as far as Catra was concerned.

Deep string music cut through the opening scenes, and in no time at all Adora’s head found its way back to Catra’s shoulder.

Catra was not about to put herself through this torture again. Having Adora right there, so close Catra could smell her weird (and surprisingly floral) dandruff shampoo? Nope. She wasn’t going to survive that.

“Get off me,” Catra muttered half-heartedly.

Adora lifted her head. “Is your arm falling asleep again?”

“I--yeah,” Catra lied.

“Well, move it.”

“What?”

“Move it,” Adora repeated.

Catra glanced around. “What? Where? I can’t exactly detach it.”

With a frustrated grumble, Adora grabbed Catra’s wrist and guided her arm around so that it was resting on the back of the couch. “There,” Adora said contentedly as she dropped her head on Catra’s shoulder again and scooted closer. “No squirming,” she warned.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Catra said under her breath.

She felt Adora tense up against her.

Before Adora could deliver whatever comeback she no doubt had ready, there was a horrific sound from the TV.

Adora let out a small noise, and that was when Catra realized that picking a horror movie had actually been her worst mistake of all time.

Apparently, Adora had decided that the best place to hide was right in the crook of Catra’s neck.

“Hey, Adora? I’m guessing you can’t really see the movie from there,” Catra said, keeping her voice as controlled and level as possible.

“That’s kind of the point,” Adora replied quickly. “This is way worse than I thought it would be.”

“Definitely way worse.” Catra was suddenly very aware of how awkwardly her arm was stretched across the couch back. She considered shifting it, but then Adora would move.

Wait, wasn’t that what Catra wanted before? How did Adora end up nestled against her neck, breath brushing across her skin? When did Catra let it get this far?

She really was her own worst enemy.

Catra tried to focus on the movie, but it was too quiet. Nothing was happening.

And then Adora’s lips were on her neck.

Catra didn’t mean for her arm to drift off of the couch back and curl around Adora’s waist, but it happened. She couldn’t come up with a single good reason to make Adora stop what she was doing--and then it hit her.

“Adora?” Catra said, voice scratchy already. She liked to think Adora was easy to rile up, but clearly she was just as bad.

A hum against Catra’s neck snapped her out of her haze.

“Adora,” she said more firmly.

“What?” Adora said, pulling away to face her. She was staring dead at Catra’s lips, and it took all of Catra’s willpower not to close the gap and stamp out what she’d intended to say.

Catra shook her head. “Can we talk for a second?”

An awful scream from the TV paralleled Catra’s own thoughts fairly accurately.

Adora got up and closed the laptop. When she returned to the couch, she sat facing Catra.

“What’s up?” she asked.

Catra shifted to try and turn away from her a little. It was uncomfortable, how quickly lucid concern had overtaken the singleminded lust that had clouded Adora’s eyes just a minute earlier.

“Are you okay?” Adora asked.

Catra realized she’d been holding her breath this whole time and let out an exhale. “I don’t want to do this.”

Adora’s eyebrows knitted together in that perfect little crease. “We don't have to finish the movie.”

Catra licked her lips. “That’s not what I mean.”

“So what do you mean?”

The silence that hung in the small space between them felt impenetrable. If Catra had been using her better judgment, she would have brushed it off and walked away, not risked losing what little she had of Adora by bringing up something as trivial as her feelings.

Adora’s hand covered hers on the couch cushion. “Catra, what’s wrong?”

“I--” Catra started. As soon as she met Adora’s eyes, she felt like crying. Why did it have to be so damn confusing?

How was she supposed to know what she wanted when her head was always spinning around this girl?

How had she been stupid enough to break her own rules?

Catra tore her hand out from under Adora’s and wiped her eyes violently. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m...I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

“Do you want me to go?” Adora offered.

“No!” Catra snapped. “I mean, I don’t--I don’t know.”

She felt the tears welling up, and for the briefest moment she considered marching out the door, dropping out of school, and never speaking to anyone on campus again--but she didn’t. Still, she forced herself not to let the tears fall.

Adora’s voice became impossibly soft. “Do you want me to stay?”

It was too much for Catra’s heart to handle.

Sure, it wasn’t her first time crying around Adora, but at least before she could explain why it was happening. Adora’s arms were around her shoulders, though, and keeping it together felt like a lost cause.

With more force than necessary, she wriggled out of Adora’s embrace. She couldn’t let herself fall apart like this.

“What?” Adora asked.

“Just overwhelmed,” Catra said. “Rough week.” She was shutting down, she knew. When she was upset, she pushed people away, especially people she cared about.

Adora’s eyes went wide. “Did I do something? Oh my gosh, I’m sorry. I should have asked before I just started kissing you like that. I thought that you thought that we were gonna...you know. I’m so sorry. I’m gonna go.”

She was barely off the couch before Catra caught her by the hand.

Adora turned around, but Catra was focused on their interlinked fingers.

“God, Adora, you’re so dumb sometimes.”

With a hard pull, she brought Adora tumbling back onto the couch and into her lap. Catra barely had to look before meeting Adora’s lips with her own--it was muscle memory at this point, but Catra was started to wonder if it was an impulse she’d been born with.

God, that was way too cheesy. She could never, ever say that out loud.

She felt Adora mutter something against her mouth, so Catra responded by biting Adora’s bottom lip hard.

“Catra, what--”

Catra cut her off with another kiss.

Finally she felt Adora’s hands pushing against her chest, and she broke away.

“Just talk to me,” Adora whispered, a hint of desperation behind her words. Her palms still rested over Catra’s chest, one hovering just above her heart.

Catra took a moment to breathe, then:

“I don’t want you to not kiss me.”

“Um, what?”

“Sorry, that--didn’t really make sense,” Catra said, running a hand through her hair.

“Take your time.” Adora looped a piece of Catra’s wild hair around her finger absently.

“This whole thing we’re doing is great, or whatever, but it’s not working.” Catra swore she heard her own heart crack under Adora’s hand.

Looking at Adora’s face, though, Catra wondered if she wasn’t the only one.

“Adora?”

“Why is it not working?”

“Huh?”

“You can’t just--break up with me for no reason. That’s--well, that’s just mean.” Adora hugged herself, but she stayed right where she was, straddling one of Catra’s legs.

Catra considered pushing her off, but if this was the last time she was going to be this close to Adora, she was going to be a little selfish and let her stay.

Adora threw her hands in the air in frustration. “Just tell me, Catra.”

“I like you,” Catra finally said. “Like, way too much. Sorry. I know that’s now how this is supposed to work.”

Adora just stared at her.

“What?”

Adora’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, that’s not how this is supposed to go?” Adora asked slowly.

Catra sighed. “You know, the whole friends-with-benefits thing.”

“Friends with benefits?” Adora echoed.

“Yeah,” Catra went on. “I screwed it up by catching feelings. It’s not like we’re dating or anything, so it’s not really fair to keep you around, to me or to you. I just--I don’t know. It sucks. I’m sorry. It was really fun.”

Adora blinked a few times.

“Dude, you’re kind of freaking me out.”

As Catra’s awareness of the weight in her lap grew unbearable, Adora kissed her.

Before Catra could even react, Adora pulled away.

“What’d you do that for?” Catra breathed.

“I thought we’d been dating since like, December,” Adora confessed, blushing. “But I guess I never really checked. Officially.”

“What? December?!” Catra swore she felt a blood vessel pop in her forehead.

“Yes! Do you FaceTime all of your casual hookups on Christmas?”

“What happened to friends with benefits?”

“We never said we were that either!”

Words evaded Catra entirely.

Adora shrugged shyly. “I mean, I’m not seeing anybody else.”

Catra didn’t respond right away, caught in the sheer disbelief of what she was hearing.

“Wait, are you seeing other people? Because--it’s fine if you are. Totally fine. I’m not saying you shouldn’t, if that’s what you want. Polyamory is a thing--not my thing, but. It could be yours, I don’t know,” Adora rambled.

Catra smiled a little. “It’s not.”

Adora let out a sigh of relief, but she tensed up again just as fast. “So...do you want to be seeing me? Like, dating?”

“Do you?” Catra asked, leaning forward slightly.

“Catra, I just said I thought we’d been dating for a month.”

Adora crossed her arms. Catra uncrossed them for her, taking Adora’s hands in hers. “I know. I just wanted to hear you say it again.”

“You could have said something, you know,” Adora prodded.

“So could you,” Catra returned.

“Guess I’m not the only one who’s oblivious sometimes.”

Catra cocked her head.

Adora put a hand on Catra’s cheek, and Catra nearly imploded. “Do you have any idea how much I like you?”

“I--”

Adora interrupted her by bringing their lips together again. “Sorry, I don’t think I caught that,” Adora teased.

“Shut up,” Catra said, trying to shove Adora off. "Make me," Adora dared.

***

A loud knocking jolted Catra awake. Her first thought was that the couch was much warmer than usual--but why was the couch breathing?

Oh.

That was...a person.

Catra was asleep on Adora.

And neither of them was wearing a shirt.

More knocking made Catra groan.

“Hey, Wildcat? You in there?” Scorpia’s voice came through the door.

Catra rolled off of Adora and picked her newly torn shirt up off the floor. At least Scorpia hadn’t just barged in, but Catra would have preferred a moment to fix the no-doubt disastrous state her hair was in.

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK--_

Catra opened the door a crack. “What?”

“Whoa!” Scorpia covered her eyes. “I, uh, figured you might still have company.”

Catra looked down, struck by the revelation that she might not be wearing pants either. Thankfully, she at least had boxers on. That was more than some people wore around the dorms. It wasn’t like Scorpia hadn’t seen her without pants before, so she wasn’t sure what the big deal was.

“Did you need something?” Catra tried to keep her usual pre-ten o’clock snarl out of her voice.

“Yes, I did. Do. Yes. Can you hand me my running shoes? Sea Hawk and I are going bird watching.”

“...Sure.” Catra wasn’t in the mood to ask any further questions about that particular choice of activity. She took Scorpia’s (size 12) sneakers from their shoe rack and handed them over.

Scorpia still had her hand over her face.

Catra rolled her eyes. “Scorpia, you’re being weird, even for you.”

Scorpia laughed awkwardly. “You, uh...you might wanna break into that makeup kit before you go anywhere.”

Catra’s hand flew to the base of her neck. It had been a little sore when she woke up, but she figured it was just from sleeping on the couch.

Apparently not.

“Tell Adora I said hi!” Scorpia ran off without even changing her shoes.

As Catra closed the door, she heard a little grumble from behind her.

Adora sat up on the couch, rubbing her head and blinking heavily. “Was that Scorpia?”

Catra was wholly unprepared to watch Adora wake up. She wasn’t a morning person at all: her hair was a mess, and her cheeks were a perfect shade of pink. The left side of her face was imprinted with the cross-stitched pattern on the armrest. She rubbed her eyes, opening them slowly.

It was the cutest thing Catra had ever seen. Ever. No contest.

“Catra?” Adora said, her voice raspy.

Catra felt like she was about to explode.

“Why are you staring at me?”

“You...” Catra willed her brain to start working. She needed to come up with something, anything, that wouldn’t make her sound like a lovestruck idiot.

A smug little smile started to creep onto Adora’s face, and it was the exact push Catra needed.

“You gave me a hickey, you jerk!”

As Adora broke down in a fit of giggles, Catra pounced.

She soon found out that it was very much possible to kiss the smugness out of someone.

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The explanation for that ridiculous hickey. 
> 
> (Takes place before the last scene of the previous chapter.)

“Make me,” Adora said, pushing Catra back against the couch.

Before Catra had time to think, her hands flew to Adora’s hips. As soon as Adora’s tongue slipped across her bottom lip, Catra dragged her nails up along Adora’s sides, painstakingly slow, before following down the curve of her triceps.

Adora’s sharp inhale made Catra smirk. The first time they’d done this, Catra had accidentally stumbled across that sensitive area--and she’d learned that Adora could be particularly enthusiastic about nails.

“Ca...Catra,” Adora managed, “that’s mean.”

“Is it?” Catra purred against Adora’s jaw. “Aw, my bad.” She brushed Adora’s hair back, exposing the left side of her neck and latching on.

The sound Adora made was one of Catra’s favorites: a little too loud, and just a little too close to begging (if Catra asked at the right moment, Adora would probably do that, too).

“It’s not fair,” Adora whined.

Catra couldn’t help it when her fingers danced over the spot again.

Adora pushed her against the couch roughly. “Why don’t you have a weakness like that?”

“Maybe I do,” Catra said--and regretted it immediately.

She’d meant to sound coy and mysterious, not give Adora ideas.

“Really?” Adora asked. “What is it?”

“Hmm. Why should I tell you?”

Catra’s attempt to cover backfired horribly: she felt Adora’s fingers wrap around her wrists, and the next thing she knew, they were pinned next to her head. She felt her control over the situation slipping.

“Guess I’ll just find out myself.” Adora’s voice was so uncharacteristically dark--and Catra had never felt more compelled by a threat.

She leaned forward, just brushing against Adora’s lips. “You promise?”

Caught off guard by the apparent compliance, Adora pulled back just an inch. “I--”

Without warning, Catra shifted, flipping Adora onto her back so that her head landed on the seat softly. Adora gasped at the sudden use of force as Catra guided both of Adora’s hands up above her head and trapped them on the armrest with one of her own.

With her free hand, Catra tilted Adora’s chin up, coaxing her to meet her eyes. Still, Adora’s gaze flickered between Catra’s eyes and lips, lingering far too long on the latter to leave any part of her intentions up to the imagination.

Another smug smile tugged at the corner of Catra’s lip.

“Not bad. You almost had me there. _Princess.”_

Adora let out a displeased growl. She hated being called that, and while Catra would’ve liked to use the nickname all the time, it was much more fun to wait until moments like this just to see Adora’s unsuspecting reaction. It was always worth it. Adora was just too much fun to mess with--she got so worked up over the smallest things.

As Catra snickered to herself, Adora’s hips bucked. Her thigh shot up between Catra’s legs and sent a pleasant shiver up her spine. She heard her own laugh splinter into a moan.

Yeah, Adora’s competitive side was _definitely_ Catra’s favorite toy.

A self-satisfied scoff made Catra open her eyes.

Looking down, she saw Adora wearing what was quite possibly her dumbest expression.

Catra frowned. “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Adora said knowingly.

“Then put that face away,” Catra retorted weakly.

Adora’s little smile only engraved itself deeper into her features (it might have been pretty if it wasn’t completely annoying). She was under Catra’s skin, and she was far too proud of it.

If Catra was going to win this round, she needed to play dirty.

Still clutching Adora’s wrists with one hand, she nipped her way down Adora’s neck. She pulled away the very inconvenient shirt collar obstructing her path and continued, biting down hard once she reached the firm muscle of Adora’s chest and dipping her fingers low all in an instant.

Adora yelped--and promptly clamped her mouth shut.

“Are you trying to get me another noise complaint?” Catra muttered against Adora’s skin. "My RA was pissed last time you came over." 

With another brush of fingers over fabric, Adora choked on her words. “Your fault,” was all she got out.

That earned her another, harder bite just above the most sensitive part of her chest.

Catra refused to let up, but she wasn’t going to give Adora what she really wanted just yet. She kept Adora’s wrists pinned and let her fingers stroke again--

Adora’s leg twitched wildly, her nerves even more responsive to Catra’s touch than usual. Catra laid her forearm across Adora’s hips and pressed her onto the couch firmly.

“Catra, I swear to god,” Adora said through gritted teeth.

“Who’s ‘squirmy’ now?” Catra teased.

That did it.

Fire flared in Adora’s eyes. Catra expected to be shoved onto her back once Adora got her hands free--it was a kind of game for them, wrestling each other down--but instead, she felt a deft pull on the front of her shirt and Adora’s mouth hot against her own.

After their first time together, Adora had gotten much more confident about kissing. Apparently she’d been nervous about being too forward at first, so she’d held back. It had taken a very frustrated Catra outright inviting her to be more rough for Adora to do anything more dramatic than brush her lips across Catra’s neck. She still had certain reservations despite how many times Catra reiterated that her pain threshold was frighteningly high.

Tonight, though, Adora wasn’t waiting for Catra to convince her to use her teeth. She bit Catra’s bottom lip hard, tongue darting out after.

Catra usually did her best to be quiet, but something about Adora’s aggressively focused energy drew a groan from deep in her chest.

Adora’s arms wrapped around her neck, pulling her impossibly closer. Catra’s lungs started to burn, but she’d gladly choose suffocation over breaking that kiss.

With a frustrated grunt, Adora sat up. What she lacked in tact she certainly made up for in enthusiasm and decisiveness.

She guided Catra along with her while refusing to separate, clinging to the shirt collar so tightly that it would almost certainly be stretched out (Catra couldn’t bring herself to care when this was the reason--she had about a thousand other black shirts, anyway).

Catra realized something as she straddled Adora’s lap: she might have been on top, but Adora was the one setting the pace, controlling the rhythm as her greedy hands slid up Catra’s shirt. If Catra didn’t take over, she’d be falling apart in a matter of minutes, and she had no plans to let Adora get away with that so easily.

She wanted to drag this out a little. Or a lot.

Depending on how good Adora was.

As Adora’s hands roamed, Catra let her hips move as they pleased. She planned to tease Adora for a while, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy herself.

“What are you waiting for? Are you just gonna feel me up all night?” Catra prodded, her sharp words dulled by Adora’s lips.

For once, Adora got the hint. When she finally started to take off Catra’s shirt, however, there was an unmistakable tearing sound.

They both froze.

Catra sat back slowly atop Adora’s legs and looked down to see a fist-sized hole along the left seam of what was once a functional garment.

“Wow, Adora,” Catra mused.

“I’m so sorry!” Adora said. She reached towards the tear but withdrew just as fast. “I got carried away. I’m--”

“Hmph. Whatever.” Catra shrugged as she effortlessly removed the poor scrap of fabric in question. It would probably make a pretty cool outfit for concerts. Or regular everyday wear, if she was being honest about her low commitment to looking presentable.

Every time Catra took her shirt off, Adora made the same face. It never got old. She looked like she was short-circuiting at the sight of a half-naked girl in her lap. Utterly and unabashedly shocked that it was happening. Amazed, even.

Before their talk, on days when her willpower had been weak, Catra had let herself believe that look was for her and not just her body. In light of recent events, however, Catra started to wonder if she’d known somewhere, deep down.

Maybe that same part of her had always been a little bit in love with Adora. If she was being honest with herself.

A smile distinct from her previous smug ones broke out on Adora’s face. This one was warm and free and toothy and blindingly beautiful, all things that made Catra’s heart do flips in her chest.

“What?” Catra asked, feeling more than a little exposed despite the fact that she’d taken off her shirt around Adora plenty of times.

“You’re...gorgeous,” Adora said. “I don’t--I’m not sure I ever told you that before.”

Catra crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly more self-conscious than she’d ever been in this woman’s company. “Yeah, well, maybe that’s why I was so confused about this whole thing,” she said.

"My bad," Adora said absently. Her fingertips ghosted over the bare skin of Catra’s stomach and trailed up over her ribs. Their phantom touch was torture, enough to drive Catra to start committing crimes if she wasn’t touched properly soon. Maybe she’d be the one to give in first this time after all.

“Adora,” Catra said hoarsely, wondering if she sounded as insistently desperate as she felt. “Cut it out.”

For a fleeting moment, Adora looked genuinely worried she’d done something wrong.

When her eyes met Catra’s though, she must have seen enough to convince her otherwise. She held Catra’s gaze and continued, her fingers barely making contact as they swept up to Catra’s neck. Her thumb anchored itself on Catra’s pulse point as her fingers crawled to the other side.

It hit Catra like a bolt of lightning. Electricity coursed through her, blood rushing in her ears and pounding in her--

She couldn’t remember how to speak, let alone dare to ask Adora to follow through. Maybe Adora really was going to make good on her promise of finding Catra’s weakness.

“Catra?” Adora said quietly. “Is--are you okay?”

“Huh?” was all Catra could supply.

Adora withdrew her hand, that terribly sweet concerned look back on her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...”

Catra watched Adora’s palm land on the couch cushion next to her--and no, no, that wasn’t how it was supposed to go. As far as Catra was concerned, that hand had a suddenly very urgent purpose to attend to.

She needed to snap out of it. Discovering whether she wanted Adora put her hand around her neck again could wait.

“On second thought,” Catra said, setting her jaw and leaning in close. “I’m pretty sure that was my favorite shirt you just ripped up. Which means--”

“What?” Adora cut in. “It wasn’t your favorite shirt. Just a second ago you didn’t care.”

“It was my favorite shirt, Adora,” Catra pushed.

“Oh, yeah? What band was it for?” Adora challenged knowingly.

Catra tried to think of something, but the only music she had any interest in thinking about was the many sounds Adora could make (she was determined to document them all).

With a harsh tug on Adora’s belt loops, Catra brought their mouths crashing together again.

“Yeah, I thought so,” Adora chuckled.

“You are way too smug for your own good,” Catra said, a snarl coloring her voice.

Deceptively gently, she let one hand paint circles above Adora’s hipbone while the other crept up the back of Adora’s neck and tangled in her hair.

“Like I was saying before you interrupted me, you wrecked my shirt, and now you’re gonna pay,” Catra said.

“Sure. I’ll Venmo you.”

Catra let out a single blaring laugh. Was Adora serious?

“How much was it?”

When Adora raised an eyebrow, Catra knew she was being played. “You couldn’t have told me you’re a jackass before we made this official?”

Adora stifled a chuckle and leaned up to kiss Catra again--but Catra wasn’t about to let her dignity go up in flames. The hand in Adora’s hair closed into a fist, pulling hard. Catra slapped her other hand over Adora’s mouth just in time to block the obscene sound that escaped, watching Adora’s eyes snap shut in a picture of desperation. Fingers dug into Catra’s waist hard enough to bruise, and Catra knew she’d won this time.

Into Adora’s ear, she whispered, “Behave.”

Adora opened her eyes slowly, eyelids heavy with something far from sleep.

She glanced down at the hand over her mouth and her brow furrowed.

“Think you can be quiet this-- _aah!”_

Adora’s leg had found its way to the apex between Catra’s, somehow, and Catra suspected that it was very much intentional. She had to anchor herself by grabbing Adora’s shoulder, her other arm wrapping around the back of Adora’s neck tightly.

“Adora!” Catra exclaimed, her tone leaning embarrassingly closer to aroused than annoyed.

“You say my name when I say you can,” Adora said, working her leg between Catra’s at a torturously slow pace.

“I’ll say what I want when I-- _fuck,_ Adora--I want to,” Catra flailed.

Adora hummed to herself. “I don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate.”

Finally, Adora’s palm met the fabric of Catra’s shorts. Catra grinded against it witlessly, her forehead dropping against Adora’s.

“Adora--”

Suddenly, the friction was gone. Catra’s eyes snapped open furiously.

“When I say,” Adora repeated, booping her on the nose. It was such a ridiculous gesture in the moment that Catra could barely contain herself.

Then she got an idea.

If Adora wasn’t going to do what she wanted, she’d do it herself.

Careful not to give anything away, she unwound her arm from around Adora’s neck, taking her time to rake her nails across every inch of skin on the way. She lifted the hem of Adora’s shirt just slightly, encouraging...

Once Adora had recovered from Catra’s nails, she started on her own shirt. Just as Catra had hoped, Adora was in a sports bra (as she usually was) and it gave her some trouble. Which gave Catra just enough time to snake her hand down the front of her own shorts.

When Adora finally emerged from her sports bra cocoon, Catra was already biting her own lip to keep from making sounds that could rival Adora’s in obscenity.

“What--hey!” Adora sputtered.

“Hey, _Adora.”_ Catra drew the name out, breath catching on the last syllable as she quickened her pace.

Adora’s mouth hung open.

Her eyes traced down Catra’s arm, shock all over her face.

Oh, no. Catra might have actually broken her this time.

Her plan had worked perfectly.

In one motion, Catra withdrew her hand and lunged forward, knocking Adora onto her back. Adora just stared up at her, eyes wide, lips barely parted. Catra yanked Adora’s jeans out of the way and dove low, her mouth meeting heat. By biting down on her own arm, Adora managed to stifle most of her moaning.

She was taken aback by how easily her finger slid in to join her tongue’s rhythm. Adora was already long past words, breath coming in heavy pants. Easy enough, Catra thought. She could do this for hours, bring Adora to the edge only to retreat at the last second and leave her a mess. Adora’s vice grip in her hair was almost painful, but it didn’t bother Catra--she was too busy focusing on the way her finger glided so effortlessly. With each stroke, she could feel muscle tighten and release.

When the grip in her hair suddenly went slack, Catra looked up to see Adora covering her face entirely, one arm slung across her eyes (something to remember for the future, maybe). If she kept using her other arm as a gag, she’d probably break skin. Concerned, Catra crawled up, her finger still working at an easy pace.

With more gentleness than Catra expected from herself, she nudged Adora’s arm out from between her teeth--and instead Adora flung her arms around Catra’s chest, blunt nails digging into Catra’s bare back with an astonishing pressure. Their bodies flush against each other, Adora’s embrace unbreakable.

The string of noises leaving Adora’s lips only drove Catra more.

She added a second finger alongside the first and reached deeper, curling them up once, twice--

With a swallowed scream, Adora sank her teeth into Catra’s shoulder. Her hips jerked up and nearly knocked Catra to the floor.

Well. So much for Catra’s plan.

As Adora came down, she unwrapped her legs from where they’d clamped around Catra’s hips. Her contented exhale bubbled into a laugh and her eyes fluttered open.

Catra stayed put, reminding herself that she didn’t need to put distance between them or invent an excuse to kick Adora out. It was a habit, backing away and throwing walls up, but it was one Catra intended to break.

Adora touched Catra’s cheek, the same hand that could've crushed ribs just moments before caressing soothingly. An untamed smile blossomed on Adora’s lips, a beaming grin that Catra suspected she’d been holding back for a month.

“I’m glad we talked,” Adora said quietly.

Catra laid down on Adora’s chest and wrapped her arms around her.

“Everything after that was pretty good, too,” Adora added.

Catra rolled her eyes--Adora’s absurd sense of humor was still intact. “Whatever.”

A pause.

“Catra?” Adora asked. “Are you--”

“Yes, Adora, I’m okay,” Catra broke in. “Why do you ask me that so much?”

“I...I just want to make sure,” Adora explained vaguely.

Catra nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good. Tired, though.”

Adora shifted so that she could grab a blanket from a basket by the couch. As she stretched it out over them, she gasped.

“Wait, Catra! I didn’t even get to you,” Adora pouted.

Catra was more than happy to curl up right where she was. “It’s fine. You can get me next time.”

“But that’s not fair.”

Catra propped her elbow on Adora’s chest and rested her cheek against her hand. “Fair?”

Adora blushed. “I feel bad you had to do it yourself.”

Catra sat up a little more. “Fair’s not a thing, okay? Especially not with this stuff. Plus, I only did that to mess with you,” she confessed.

“It worked,” Adora gulped.

“Yeah, I kinda guessed,” Catra finished. 

As Adora finished throwing the blanket over their legs, Catra tucked herself under Adora’s chin and closed her eyes.

***

**Author's Note:**

> title from halsey's "I hate everybody" cuz manic's got me FUCKED up rn
> 
> i'm gideonthesixtyninth on tumblr


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